Living The Impossible
by DramaQueen1133
Summary: AU after The Satan Pit. The Doctor & Rose are stranded after losing the TARDIS, leaving them no choice but to settle down. But will their relationship take the Doctor's ever increasing wanderlust and Rose's desperate attempts at keeping them together?
1. Chapter 1

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So sorry I haven't updated anything in a while. Exams have been killing me. And I also shouldn't really start anything new until I finish my other stories, but I had a very vivid dream of this story, and had to get it down. (I think dreaming of this show is just evidence of how far my obsession goes lol). And I do know that this idea has been done many times before, but I thought I'd add my little tidbit into the pot. But yes, hope you enjoy! x

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The space station rattled something dreadful as Rose sat in one of its miniscule bedrooms, running her hands over the coarse grey quilt. Sleeping in it was something that she was not looking forwards to. But when she looked at things from a wider perspective, she knew that the comfort of a nights sleep was not her biggest problem. The TARDIS was below them in the centre of the 'planet', and the Doctor had become withdrawn and silent. Every time she touched his shoulder or arm, trying to offer any comfort she could, his muscles tensed and he gritted his teeth. When he went into one of those moods, Rose knew from experience that he would only emerge from it in his own time.

She could hear his raised voice from the bedroom, he was yelling (again) at the crew, begging them to redirect their drills to get to the sapphire box he called his home. The box they called home. It was a strange notion to Rose, imagining life outside of the TARDIS. When you live in a machine that can take you through all of time and space, life outside of it becomes almost impossible. And if it was hard for her to imagine it, she couldn't possibly comprehend what the Doctor was feeling. He'd been with that ship for centuries upon centuries. To be ripped away from something you love so cruelly is something that she wouldn't wish upon anyone. Something in the control room crashed loudly followed by more shouting. Rose lay back on the bed, burrowing her head into the thin pillow, trying to hold back her sobs. All of the emotion and panic that she had stored inside of her was coming to a boiling point. Ever since they lost the TARDIS, she tried her best not to show it, for the Doctor's sake more than her own. Her whining was the last thing he needed. But the thought of never seeing her mother and never seeing her Earth again burned a hole inside of her.

Rose jerked her head up as the door to the bedroom was opened. The Doctor came storming in, bringing with him a cloud of emotions. She could practically feel his feeble attempts at keeping it together breaking. Each string of self control snapping with every breath. He didn't say anything. Just sat by the desk, trying to even out his breath. After a few moments, Rose sat up fully.

"I heard you shouting." Her voice was gentle, she felt like if she raised it too much it would cause him some form of physical harm. The room was so quiet and small that she could hear him swallow, hear the rustle of his clothes as he turned to look at her.

"I, uh…I tried asking nicely. Didn't work so I tried shouting." The Doctor looked down at the grating of the floor, exhausted from the emotions running through him. Rose didn't even ask him if it had worked. She knew it hadn't.

"What's…..what's going to happen?" She asked softly, trying to nudge against the barrier he had no doubt put up.

"They said the best thing they can do is offer us a lift out of here." Nodding slowly, Rose tried to digest it. Something inside of her had kept a spark of hope going, the Doctor could do anything. She believed that with all her heart. But now it seemed as if someone had blown that spark out, leaving a cold cavern where it had been. For once she realised that perhaps the Doctor could be just as helpless as her.

"What are we gonna do?" The Doctor looked up at that, she could see his eyes shifting from side to side, searching for an answer to that burning question.

"I….What can we do? We can't reach the TARDIS. They won't divert their drills, nor have they got any equipment we could use to get to it." With every word he uttered, Rose's heart sank further.

"So….?"

"So…we may have no choice but to go with them. Back to their Earth." The burn of tears erupted in her eyes, but she held them back, trying to quell any guilt the Doctor may be feeling.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. So sorry-"

"Don't, Doctor. It's not your fault. And don't even bother argue with me, because it's not." Discreetly sniffing, Rose turned away and gazed out of one of the porthole like windows. It was kind of beautiful when you really looked at it. The never ending expanse of black velvet, lighted by the burning ambers and scarlet that was the black hole. An emerald haze was slowly curling around it, no doubt being sucked into its depths.

"Rose?"

"Yeah?" She kept her eyes on the black hole, her gaze following the haze as it disappeared.

"I don't think that I can fix this." The quiet admission in the small bedroom, bathed in the light of the black hole sounded more broken than anything she had ever heard.

"That's o.k. Like I said, Doctor. Stuck with you. That's not so bad."

"We'll have to live a normal life. We'll have to get jobs. And….and have stable incomes, and…"

"And?" Rose prompted softly, closing her eyes as the glittering emerald cloud finally disappeared.

"And I'm scared." Tearing her gaze away from the porthole, she studied him. The suit he donned usually made him look important and almost intimidating if you didn't know him. His eyes were wide and looked as if they held as much knowledge as the universe itself. But in the light of the black hole he looked like a little boy who had been dressing up in his daddy's suits, forgetting to swap his dirty converse for something smarter. Now his eyes looked like they had seen too much pain, soft and brown, gazing at Rose for any form of help she could give him. She shifted herself from the bed, walking carefully over to him and placing herself on his lap.

"You're not gonna leave me, are you?" She whispered into his shoulder, wrapping her fingers around his.

"Of course not." His surprise at her question was evident in his voice.

"Then we can be scared together." A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, before falling away and landing beside the TARDIS in the pits of the planet.

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**Hope you liked it. I could have the next chapter up this weekend if you do, so lemme know! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, as promised, here's the second chapter! Hope you like. xx (And thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really do appreciate it)**

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When Rose woke, the Doctor had vanished. She could hear the space station awash with the noises of the crew. Yesterday the drills had stopped. Almost immediately they had started to make plans about procedures and protocols that Rose had found completely uninteresting in her state. She was exhausted and the façade of cheerfulness she put on had collapsed as Scooti's body floated towards the black hole. One arm eerily stretched out as if she were waving goodbye. To anyone else, it would seem as if the crew wasn't much affected by the death. But Rose knew better than anyone. When you travelled with the Doctor you saw so much death. And yes, you would mourn it for a little while, but then you would busy yourself as much as you could to keep the weight of it from crushing your mind. The team were just distracting themselves.

As the crew and the Doctor made plans for the next day, Rose had wandered aimlessly through the space station, before finally coming to a stop outside of her designated room. She rested her forehead against the cool metal door, enjoying the smoothness of the canary paint coating it. Only a few tears escaped her then. Scooti was a wonderful person, and they really did get on. But after a few moments she collected herself together again. She couldn't allow herself to succumb to her sorrow in the situation. As she walked into the room, Rose glared at the porthole. The once beautiful black hole looked different to her now. With the knowledge that it would consume Scooti's body, she now viewed it as something terrifying. The gaping black chasm in the centre looked like the jaws of a monster, waiting to devour her. Walking over to it, she slammed the screen over the glass, refusing to look at it. The whole idea of space travel wasn't as glamorous as everyone thought it was back home. It was fraught with danger and death and destruction…nothing about it was glamorous. Rose curled up on the small bed, biting her thumb. Her mind wandered in and out of dreams. Somewhere in the back of her subconscious she could hear the door to the room open and close.

"Rose? You awake?" She could feel the Doctor's presence as he leaned over her body, trying to peer at her face. Not in the mood to talk, she kept her eyes closed. With a sigh, the Doctor sat in the chair by the desk, remaining there for the rest of the night.

* * *

Now she was awake, she realised he was gone. The whirrs and grinds of machinery could be heard clearly, and instructions were being called out from every direction. Rose quickly slid from the bed, walking briskly to the source of the action. As she got there, she saw Ida standing in front of a yellow capsule, calling out instructions to everyone. But the sight that greeted Rose next sank her heart. The Doctor had donned the same space suit that Ida had, no doubt going to explore the source of energy with her. As Rose watched him bound over to Zach, she closed her eyes. Of course he would go. Why did she think anything else? But a panic seemed to take over and squeeze her heart. What if something happened to him? When he was all the way down there, how would she get to him? All she had was him now, and she couldn't even imagine losing him. The Doctor spoke quickly to Zach before finally catching her eye. They had a brief conversation, laden with jokes and smiles, the opposite of what they both were feeling. She kissed his helmet and watched as he stepped into the capsule with Ida, waving goodbye sweetly. Her heart sank with it as it disappeared from sight.

* * *

Everything after that was a bit of a blur. Toby stood from his spot in the corner, his eyes blood red with the black markings etched into his face. Rose spoke quickly and quietly into her radio, relaying the events to the Doctor. His voice floated faintly back to her, something about he was coming back. Whatever was in Toby left him a cloud of dusky smoke, infecting the Ood. The next few minutes were a haze of gunfire and alarms and shouting. And Rose was left in the middle of it all, wishing to God that the Doctor would hurry back.

The Doctor ran to the capsule, tugging Ida along with him. He typed something into the small control panel, and the capsule started to shake, heaving them back up to the surface.

"Doctor, we can't just leave it! We've been drilling all this time, I'm not leaving!" Ida yelled to him, even though they were already halfway up the shaft.

"Ida, something is happening up there, and we need to help-"

"But-"

"No buts. If we sort everything out then we can come back down, no problem." She pursed her lips and turned away from him. Almost a split second later the planet began to shake, they both grabbed a hold of anything they could in the capsule. Ida was sure she had whiplash, and the capsule was still moving, but scraping against the walls of the tunnel as it moved. It swung and battered itself against the rough rocks around it, the machine making an alarming whirring noise. And almost as soon as it had started, it stopped. The lift sputtered and beeped, then started to rise to the surface of the planet once more. Ida and the Doctor looked at one another, their breaths coming in hard pants, clouding the glass of their helmets. "What was that?" Ida panted, looking to the Doctor for answers. He looked around, still holding onto a metal pole for balance.

"The planet moved. All of it, like a quake."

"Doctor? Ida? You there? Please say something-"

"We're here, Rose." The Doctor spoke softly into his radio, trying to quell the panic in her voice, evident even through the static.

"You should've said something earlier-""I know, sorry. What's going on up there, what happened?" The Doctor interrupted her. Ida paused, waiting with baited breath for an answer. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to be hurt.

"Whatever was in Toby went into the Ood. But Jefferson took them out with his gun." Rose murmured with a distinct look of pity on her face the Doctor could imagine through her voice.

"No one's hurt, but Zach's stuck in the control room and us in here. The Ood are trying to break in. Where are you? Are you o.k?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Me and Ida are on our way back up, we've only got a few metres to go. I'll see you in a minute." Rose breathed a smile, and turned to wait for the yellow box to appear.

* * *

The Doctor held Rose in his arms as the Ood were sucked into space, the station rattled with the force of it. After he had returned, they had quickly discussed the plan that was strategy nine. As against it as he was, the Doctor had no choice but to go through with it. There was literally no other solution. They had lost Jefferson along the way, a fine man with too much pride. Rose burrowed her head against his neck, waiting for the shaking to subside. It was a tragedy to go ahead with strategy nine, but Rose kept telling herself to be thankful that both her and the Doctor were together, and he wasn't stuck down there with the 'beast'. As they and the crew sat in silence, Rose found her mind wandering. What would happen after this? No doubt the Doctor and her would have to take the lift the crew offered to them, but then what? They'd have to get a house…a mortgage…a normal life.

"Rose? It's stopped." Jerking out of her daydream, Rose looked around. The crew were slowly rising to their feet, each with a distinct look of shame or regret. The Doctor was looking at her, waiting for her to move.

"Yeah, sorry." She stood with him, waiting a second before wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his own around her waist, squeezing her tightly, holding her to him. As they released each other, Danny spoke quietly.

"Is everyone alright?" A few murmurs echoed around the room, each confirming their well being.

"Is that it? Is everything….are we safe?" Toby said as he looked around, almost as if he was scared that the beast would jump up from behind a desk or something.

"I…I should think so, yes." The Doctor swallowed. Zach ran to the control panel as a loud beep started to sound. Everyone stood still in a moment of panic, wondering what could possibly be wrong now.

"It's alright. The shuttle's ready to launch." Zach spoke to them all, and they all sighed a collective breath of relief.

"What do you say then, Doctor? Rose? You ready for that lift?" Rose looked to the Doctor and grasped his hand. He swallowed loudly.

"I….is there no way to get down there?" Zach sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. We've been over this. There isn't any way. And frankly, even if there was a way I wouldn't let you do it. It'd just be you risking yours and everyone else's lives." There was a silence as the information sunk in. The Doctor turned to Rose.

"Are you alright with this? Living a normal…" He trailed off, not even wishing to finish his sentence.

"As long as you're with me…I think I could cope." She laughed feebly and he granted her a smile.

"Well…maybe I've been travelling too long…Zach…if you don't mind, I think we should hurry up and leave."

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**So this was just a chapter to explain what happened before the Doctor and Rose left for their normal lives. Now this is done, we can get started on the interesting bit lol. I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow if you give me enough reviews I think xx (oh, and sorry if some things in here doesn't fit in with the episodes timeline...but then it is AU after all)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are, as promised lol. Hope you like! xx**

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The Doctor watched Rose snuggle into his suit jacket, using it as a makeshift pillow. It was the chivalrous thing to do after all, even if it did mean that he was a bit cold now. Everyone slept soundly apart from him and Zach who was piloting the shuttle. Behind them, the planet was now nothing more than a tiny speck in the expanse of ethereal space. His double hearts thumped hard against his chest as he watched it disappear completely, leaving his TARDIS far behind.

The Doctor was unsure of how to feel. On the one hand everyone…nearly everyone, had gotten out of there alive. And he would be lying if he said that the beasts foreboding prophecy about Rose's death worried him more than he had let on. The relief pulsed through his veins when they left the planet and she was safe. But it still felt like he was leaving one of his hearts behind, stored in the blue box in the centre of the planet.

"What's the plan then, Doctor?" Zach turned from his pilot station to glance at him. The Doctor tore his gaze away from the window.

"What do you mean?"

"For you and Rose? What are you going to do when we get to Earth?" The question threw him. He hadn't thought of it really. Of course he knew that they would have to have a…normal life. But how they would go about starting one up was unclear to him.

"I…don't know. We'll need money. I'll have to provide for her…" The Doctor looked to Rose in horror. How on Earth was he supposed to do that? They'd need a home…jobs…_cutlery._

"Well, I suppose that we could pull in a few favours from the ISE. I'm sure after we report what you did for us then they'll be more than happy to give you both a grant."

"ISE?"

_"_International Space Exploration. We work for them, that's why we were on that planet in the first place." The Doctor's eyes widened in interest.

"They'd give us a grant?" Zach laughed at the curiosity scrawled across his face and set the shuttle on automated pilot.

"Yeah, especially in your circumstances. So, you given any thoughts to a job?" Zach turned fully in his chair now to face the Doctor.

"Well, jack of all trades me. I could go after anything really." Rose murmured in her sleep, shifting to place her legs upon the Doctor's lap. Zach eyed them both.

"What about Rose? What qualifications has she got then?" The Doctor looked down at her sleeping form.

"She uh…well, we both don't have anything official. But we're more than capable." Zach raised an eyebrow.

"Doctor, no one is going to hire you unless you get qualifications under your belt."

"And how do I get those?"

"I suppose that the ISE could examine you both and get you some degrees or something, I don't know." Great, the Doctor mentally sighed. More complications.

"How long until we land?" Zach turned and typed something into the computer.

"Two hours. You should probably get some sleep." He turned back to the control panel and switched the automated pilot off.

"Yeah." The Doctor said, before turning to stare out of the window for the rest of the journey.

* * *

Rose sat up and stretched, a yawn escaping form her. Her neck hurt and she was bleary eyed, yet she felt better than she had done for a while. Sunlight filtered through the shuttle, making her flinch away. She took a glance out of the window and saw a grey landing strip. With a gasp, she realised that they had arrived.

"Rose Tyler, this is Earth. Granted, a while after you were last here." She turned to the Doctor and frowned. He was speaking in a rather monotone voice, all the joy it usually possessed had vanished. "You alright, Doctor?" Placing a hand upon his, Rose shifted closer to him. As he turned to look at her, she bit her lip. He looked tired and bedraggled.

"I'm fine, Rose. Just tired." He offered her a reassuring smile. Silence followed, and then Rose realised that it was just the two of them in the shuttle.

"Where's everyone else?" The Doctor turned to face her fully.

"We're at the ISE headquarters. Zach and everyone else has gone to do a press conference about the expedition. Dunno what they're gonna say to everyone. But I told them I'd wait here until you woke up." Rose sighed and fluffed her hair.

"So…what's gonna happen to us?"

* * *

"The ISE are prepared to give you each a grant of 50,000 cowels." The Doctor and Rose sat opposite two official looking men in suits. Zach and Ida were standing behind them, watching the events with interest and offering small reassuring smiles now and again. The room was small, white and clinical. It was almost claustrophobic to sit in.

"What's a cowel?" Rose quickly whispered to the Doctor.

"It's the equivalent of the pound. Remember, we are in the future, Rose." She nodded bashfully and sat back again.

"We can also offer you some accommodation. It won't be anything too fancy, just two basic apartments in London. Of course it's nothing too derelict either." The Doctor looked to Rose who nodded quickly.

"Well….we'll take it." He smiled, and the two officials pushed some paperwork towards them.

"The apartments are paid for, courtesy of the ISE, so you only have to focus on utility bills etc. Unfortunately they don't come with too much furniture, only the essentials such as bathroom fixtures, cookers, and a couch."

"Yeah, that's…that's fine, thank you." Rose took the pen offered to her, and looked to the piece of paper in front of her. The Doctor finished reading his in a minute flat, and was now scrawling an overly fancy signature at the bottom. A moment later, Rose followed suit. They handed their papers back and one of the men nodded in approval.

"You two are now the proud owners of apartments 17 and 18 in the Wittaker building. Congratulations." Two keys were slid across the table towards them, and they both took them dutifully. Rose's mind was beginning to spin, everything was happening so fast.

"Uh…sorry, but we were gonna discuss the issue of qualifications…?" Zach piped up from behind the two men. Rose panicked. She barely had any recognisable qualifications in her own time, she very much doubted the future would recognise her few GCSEs.

"Ah, yes. We are prepared to examine you and provide you with some official degrees. We could examine you today, if you wish?"

"Yes, excellent." The Doctor grinned, relieved to get it out of the way. Rose started and looked at him with a frown.

"Sorry, could we have a minute alone?" She said to the other four in the room.

"Of course, just press the buzzer when you're ready for us to come back in." Rose waited until the door shut before turning on the Doctor.

"What the hell, Doctor?" His eyebrows raised in surprise at her sudden hostility.

"What?"

"How am I supposed to be examined when I don't know anything? You're fine, you have the world and his wife stored up in that brain of yours. I barely have a continent." The Doctor looked down, slightly shame faced.

"Sorry, Rose, I didn't think…well, you could just get the basics. You know, first aid training? A human relations degree? You're good with people." She looked at him before resting her head against his shoulder.

"Everything's going so fast, Doctor." He stroked her hair behind her ears.

"I know. But the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get on with our lives."

"Yeah…the sooner, the better." Rose agreed.

* * *

After four hours of tenuous examinations, Rose had a first aid and human relations degree, just as the Doctor had suggested. It wasn't the best you could get. But what else could you expect from only four hours? However, the ISE had written her an official letter of recommendation that was sure to take her somewhere. Unlike Rose, the Doctor had finished in two hours. He walked away from the building with more science degrees than Rose could count. It only took him a little while to complete each test, and unlike her he had no need to study. He knew everything.

So there they were, each standing outside their apartment doors. It was nicer than the ISE had made it out to be. They even had someone to open up the doors to the building for them. Why they needed that was beyond them. But the walls of the corridors were a polished cream, and the doors to their apartments a dark oak. The numbers 17 and 18 stood out to them, shining silver in the low lighting.

"So…" The Doctor said, looking the door to apartment number 17.

"So…." Rose repeated as she stared at her door with the number 18 upon it.

"I think…we should order in some food and sleep." The Doctor sighed, and Rose smiled softly.

"I think that's the best idea you've ever had."

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**Well, I suppose this marks the start to a whole new chapter for the Doctor and Rose. So, tell me what you thought! xx**


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